[Diastolic heart failure: are problems in its diagnosis and treatment solvable?]

Abstract

The paper discusses the problem of chronic heart failure (CHF) in left ventricular diastolic dysfunction - diastolic heart failure (DHF). It considers whether DHF is an independent phenotype or nothing more than a step in the development of systolic heart failure. The results of a number of studies evaluating the efficiency of treatment for DHF with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, spironolactone, and beta-blockers are given. It is concluded that diastolic dysfunction should be necessarily kept in mind on examining patients with CHF.